Recyclers recovered just over five billion pounds of post-consumer plastic for recycling in the US in 2022, with the vast majority staying in North America to be processed and remanufactured into new products, according to new data released today by the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR), ISRI, and the US Plastics Pact.

Prepared by Stina Inc., and based on surveys conducted by Stina Inc. and the National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR), the 2022 US Post-consumer Plastic Recycling Data Dashboard details US sourced post-consumer plastic recovered for recycling.

North American reclaimers acquired 93.7% of plastic recovered for recycling in the US while export overseas fell to 6.3%. Although total volumes recovered were down by 1.4% (71.2 million pounds), US reclaimers acquired 21.4 million pounds more US sourced post-consumer plastic over 2021, for a total of 4,307.8 million pounds or 85.9% of the total.

The 2022 data shows that the five billion pounds of plastic recovered in 2022 include Bottles (2,784 million pounds, 55.5% of total); Non-Bottle Rigids (1,111.8 million pounds, 22.2% of total), Film (1,110.3 million pounds, 22.1% of total) and “Other Plastics” (11 million pounds, 0.2% of total).

While the volumes reported as recovered for recycling in Non-bottle Rigids and Film categories held steady or increased in 2022, as compared to 2021, the volumes in Bottle and Other Plastics categories decreased.

Non-bottle rigid plastic volumes reported increased by 40.8 million pounds, due to an 88.4 million pound increase by North American markets offset by a 47.5 million pound decrease in export to overseas markets. This increased the percent of non-bottle rigid plastic staying in North America to 93.2%, up from 88.5% in 2021. Most of this increase was due to increased PP recovery reported, both from commingled/other collection (i.e., curbside collection or drop off) and from commercial source-separated or special collection streams. Bottles had the largest decrease of 107.1 million pounds with a decline across all bottle categories. Film had a slight increase overall with some large increases and decreases in individual categories.

“The report reflects what was happening in the manufacturing sector and broader economy during 2022,” says ISRI president Robin Wiener. “Inflation added pressure on consumer goods and markets using recycled plastic, which led to a contractionary period, as measured by Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI). Less consumer consumption led to less manufacturing and, ultimately, lower collection volume for certain products. It is encouraging that US reclaimers processed 21.4 million more pounds in 2022 than the previous year.”

“This data is an important benchmark for our industry, finding North American recyclers kept over five billion pounds of plastic out of landfills in 2022,” states Steve Alexander, APR president and CEO. “We know we can grow these numbers. APR’s recycler members have the capacity to recycle more material today if they could just get more supply through collection programs. At the same time, the proliferation of new, inexpensive virgin plastic often undermines the demand for recycled materials. We need state and federal policies that ensure minimum recycled content standards for recycled content to advance circularity for plastic.”

“Transparent reporting is crucial for tracking progress and identifying gaps toward a circular future. When reclaimers and other links in the value chain demonstrate self-accountability, it communicates their commitment and integrity toward this collective vision,” adds Emily Tipaldo, US Plastics Pact executive director.